Blog by My Little Puppy

Blog by My Little Puppy

Are Dogs Smarter Than Cats? Science Says Yes!

Yep, it’s a scientific fact your dog is smarter than your cat. That news is not hard to believe coming from a bunch of dog fans at My Little Puppy, but researchers have discovered dogs’ brains have twice as many neurons as cats.

“Neurons are the basic information processing units,” says Vanderbilt professor Suzana Herculano-Houzel, one of the researchers from the study. “The more units you find in the brain, the more cognitively capable the animal is.” The team compared neurons between cats and dogs, and researchers found most dogs had around 500 million neurons compared to a cat’s 250 million. Dogs also had the largest number of neurons of any carnivore studied.

This news means dogs have more mental flexibility and complexity than previously thought. It’s also one reason why dogs are able to learn certain skills more easily than cats. The research also shows pooches share the same intelligence level as raccoons and even lions. Domestic cats were more comparable to bears in the smarts department.

Hey, we might have our own bias for dogs, but cats are pretty darn smart, too. And it doesn’t get much better than a family that has cats AND dogs as family members.

Check out some videos of our favorite smartie-pups online:

Meet Sporty, Chicago’s favorite Golden Retriever who takes himself for a walk!